St Johnstone 4 Rangers 1: match report

Read a full match report of the Scottish Premier League game between St
Johnstone and Rangers on Tuesday, March 30 2010.

Two up: Chris Millar celebrates the second St Johnstone goal against RangersPhoto: PA

By Ewing Grahame

9:50PM BST 30 Mar 2010

Rangersmanager Walter Smith had stated on the eve of this match that complacency may yet cost his side the championship and this display, simultaneously smug and weary, suggested he may be correct.

Of course, they remain 10 points clear of Celtic, having played one match fewer, but this defeat (only their second reverse in the league this season) was their second in a week, following their elimination from the Active Nation Scottish Cup by Dundee United.

It was also their heaviest domestic defeat in a decade, since Martin O’Neill announced his arrival in the SPL with a 6-2 victory in the Old Firm meeting at Parkhead.

St Johnstone, who have been a welcome addition to the top flight, thoroughly merited the result and the scoreline did not flatter them. They are now just two points behind Hearts as they bid to claim a top-six finish at the first attempt.

Rangers were slow to come out of the blocks and the home side took the opportunity to put them on the backfoot from the kick-off.

However, even their most ardent supporters would have been taken aback by the audacity of the strike which produced their opening goal in the seventh minute.

There seemed little danger imminent when Danny Grainger’s hopeful punt up the left flank fell for Cillian Sheridan, the striker on loan at Perth from Celtic.

Well policed by Danny Wilson, everyone anticipated that the Irishman would take a touch and then try to find a colleague: instead he elected to shoot first time as it dropped over his shoulder and his dipping volley caught Allan McGregor flat-footed as it arced over him and entered the net via the goalkeeper’s left-hand post.

When the home side doubled their advantage five minutes later, though, there was more than a little good fortune involved.

Midfielder Chris Millar’s hopeful shot from 30 yards was well covered by McGregor until the ball struck David Weir on the back and spun into the opposite corner.

Those goals acted as a wake-up call for Smith’s side and they reduced the leeway within four minutes. Following an almighty scramble (during which Saints spurned several opportunities to clear their lines) Steven Davis played in Sasa Papac and the sheer power of the full-back’s angled drive from an acute angle beat Graeme Smith.

Yet Rangers lacked menace in their attacks while St Johnstone remained a real threat on the break and Sheridan fired into the side netting after being released by Filipe Morais. Yet they were probably as surprised as anyone when they restored their two-goal lead.

Rangers’ defending had been uncharacteristically sloppy for most of the evening and on this occasion McGregor was culpable, refusing to come and claim a cross from Millar which Lee McCulloch, under pressure from Liam Craig, bundled into his own net.

Surprisingly, Rangers rarely threatened Smith’s goal during the second half, although they enjoyed the bulk of possession.

Former Chelsea playmaker Jody Morris was cautioned for dissent when referee Mike Tumilty refused to penalise the hapless Kyle Lafferty for a blatant dive inside the penalty area.

The visitors’ best chance fell to substitute Maurice Edu 15 minutes from time when Lafferty’s cushioned header allowed him a shooting opportunity from 15 yards but the American failed to hit the target.

Murray Davidson showed him how it should be done, prodding home after Michael Duberry had nodded a Danny Grainger free-kick into his path. The Saints fans chanted: “We want five,” a request they could not have imagined making at kick-off time.